I hope you have enjoyed our current series on future trends in PA education, and that these issues have sparked questions, debate, and excitement regarding where our field is heading. In today’s final installment of the series, I propose two considerations for how these trends will change needs in the faculty, staff, and administration of PA programs.

Impact on faculty

Changes in PA education will result in increased pressure on faculty to elevate credentials to the doctoral level. The PA profession can follow the PT profession as an analog. When the DPT degree came into existence, all faculty were required to obtain earned doctorates. Possessing a clinical doctorate such as the DPT is no longer sufficient. State and regional accrediting agencies may require EdD/PhD degrees for most faculty to teach in a doctoral granting program.  

PA programs will devote more resources to assessment. The volume and complexity of data analysis is already outstripping many PA programs. Additionally, increasing numbers of PA programs find themselves on probation, and a lack of assessment adequate practice is one of the primary reasons for this trend. 

This can emerge as one of the biggest threats to PA programs yet may also result in enhanced opportunities. The PA education profession continues to mature and come into its own, with the opportunity to carve a unique niche into the fabric of higher education. Most importantly, improved assessment practices will result in enhanced quality of student outcomes.  

Assessment has become deeply ingrained in the culture of PA education. Although driven by accreditation, programs can develop unique and innovative ways to measure student outcomes. Regardless of the age and longevity of a program, the ability to be ever-changing and evolving is paramount for program success and survival. 

Administrative Services  

An institution wishing to adopt hybrid learning must also build its infrastructure to support the administrative and instructional support needs of the program. This includes adding human resources in the areas of leadership, instructional development, and instructional technology to support faculty and staff.

The current infrastructure of the institution will likely require supplementation from a third party for the cultivation of clinical education sites. To put this more plainly, technological experts will be required to develop adequate and user-friendly sites for student and faculty use; these things must be developed professionally. The third-party online program management partner also provides support for admissions by interacting with interested parties and guiding them through the application process.

Additionally, such a partner also provides student success coaching independent of the academic advising provided by faculty and more in line with serving as a first point of contact for students when accessing support services. Student success coaches also monitor student progress and engagement in course and extracurricular activities, reaching out to check on the student when appropriate. The design and support of online education is an exiting industry that will grow as our needs grow.

Summary and Conclusions

As we complete this five-part look at the future of PA education, let’s recap what I see as the likely changes to take place over the next decade. Undoubtedly there will be several significant changes to the fabric of PA education. 

As described in this series

• Instructional models will evolve toward a more virtual competency-based framework. 

• A clinical doctorate will become the entry-level credential in order to keep pace with pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nursing. 

• The expectations of new graduates will continue to accelerate toward an optimal team practice model, resulting in changes within the PA curriculum to train a more independent practitioner. 

• PA faculty will have to follow suit and earn doctoral degrees. 

I hope that these changes are made thoughtfully, based on adequate data, and undertaken with consideration for the impact on students. 

Once more, I extend credit to the book Learning to Love Data which I co-authored with Helen Martin, CHSC, PA-C, DFAAPA, which served as basis for most of the subject matter of this series on future trends in PA Education. 

Remember that Dr. Scott Massey, LLC is available to assist your PA program with this and many of the other issues that confront PA educators today. We welcome you to contact us for a consultation, or to attend one of our (always free) webinars.